Home AC 101
So I met up with a guy from the AC company we have used in the past for repairs to give me an estimate on system replacement. When I saw the guy, Chris, I knew he looked familiar. It turns out he used to be a repair tech and moved to sales about a year ago. He was actually the guy that first discovered the pool of water we had sitting in the bottom of our return duct a few years ago.
I told him how we were looking at replacing the system to take advantage of the federal tax credit and the Florida EnergyStar program. The EnergyStar program was just announced and Chris said they didn’t have all the details about it yet. If I got both rebates I would be able to save $3000 on the installation. If we were FPL customers we would have the possibility of collecting even more rebate money.
Chris inspected what we had. I told him the original installers seemed to do a pretty piss poor job. He confirmed it looked pretty shoddy and he laughed when he saw the distribution plenum in the attic tied up to the rafters with some tape.
He said our current ac equipment was a base 10 seer system. A SEER is a measurement of efficiency of an AC system. For comparison sake, in order to qualify for the rebates/tax credits you must install a minimum of a 16 SEER unit which is significantly more efficient.
He also said that all of the vents in the house would be replaced with a less restrictive variety to improve air flow. I had mentioned to him how airflow to the far side of the house was very poor. Chris also suggested that we add a second return to the system. Unfortunately the only place it could go is on our bedroom wall.
After doing his survey he sat down to work out quotes on two different options, both of which utilized Trane equipment which is some good stuff. The first quote was for a higher end, 18.5 SEER system. This unit has a two stage air handler and air compressor. The advantage of this configuration is the ability to run in a low power mode. This low power mode can normally be used to maintain temperature in the house. The higher power mode is only used when the system detects it can’t keep up with heat or if rapid cooling is needed.
This system is expensive, normally $9200 installed. Trane happens to be running a $1000 rebate on this system currently so it would knock the price down a grand.
The other quote was for a 16.5 SEER Trane system. This unit had a two stage air handler but a single stage compressor. It will use more power than the 18.5 system. This unit only had a $100 rebate on it but it was much less expensive, $6800 installed.
Trane equipment is good stuff like I mentioned early. The high end system has a two year bumper to bumper warranty that covers everything and 10 and 12 year parts warranties on everything else. The cheaper unit has 1 year bumper to bumper and a 10 year warranty on everything else.
Trane offers an extended warranty (not the dealer) that actually seemed like a decent deal. On the 18.5 system for $900 you can change that warranty coverage to 12 YEARS bumper to bumper. Basically it would mean for the next dozen years if anything goes wrong with your AC, it’s covered, parts and labor. The cheaper model allows you to get a 10 year bumper to bumper for $700.
I talked to Chris more about the Florida rebate. One of the requirements is the air vents are tested to verify that they have no more than 15% of air flow leakage. I KNOW our existing system leaks. That plenum that is hanging from the rafters leaks badly. One of the things I liked was Chris said that box would be totally replaced and the secondary distribution box on the other side of the house would be as well. The replacement of the ceiling vents should also address another potential source of leakage.
The point of this is the Florida rebate is a bit of a crapshoot. I would need to pay someone else to do this air flow testing and there is no guarantee that even after replacing the system that it would pass the leakage parameters. So basically I would be rolling the dice that few hundred bucks I spend on the test would turn into a $1500 rebate if it passes. If it doesn’t pass it’s like rolling a 7.
I thanked Chris for the information and the quote. I told him I planned to get several estimates. He told me that if anyone quoted lower on the same equipment that I should let him know.
To be honest, I liked Chris. He is likable, honest and knows what he is talking about since he was in the field doing service for years. I could have easily just given him the go ahead. However I know that the practical thing to do is get some other companies in the mix to play them off each other. Yea it’s a pain in the ass having to leave work to meet up with them but if it saves me a few hundred by doing so it’s worth it.